


STAY

by DiYunho



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Joker - Fandom, Suicide Squad (2016), The Joker - Fandom
Genre: Afterlife, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Crying, Death, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotions, Established Relationship, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Feelings, Feels, Heavy Angst, Hurt, Illnesses, Joker - Freeform, Love, Relationship(s), Suicide Squad, Superpowers, Terminal Illnesses, The Joker - Freeform, The Joker /you, The Joker Jared Leto, The Joker Suicide Squad, The Joker fanfiction, The Joker imagine, The joker/reader - Freeform, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 16:01:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15710556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiYunho/pseuds/DiYunho
Summary: The Joker died a few days after turning 38; it was a gruesome end due to an unexpected ambush plotted by several gangs that didn’t want him around anymore. But he is not completely gone: once a year you can bring him back for just 24 hours. And soon this won’t be possible either because the unexpected illness is going to claim your life. There will be nobody left to bring him back, unless…





	STAY

**Author's Note:**

> You can also follow me on Tumblr under the same blog name: DiYunho.

You hesitated showing him what you can do: you were afraid The Joker will freak out and chase you away. But he didn’t; J thought it was amazing. If anything, it made The King of Gotham even more interested in you.

“How did you do that, Princess?!” his eyes got big each time you brought small beings back to life: your puppy, his favorite goldfish, Frost’s cat or that cute parrot Panda had.

“I’m not sure,” you lifted your shoulders up. “I wish it and it happens.”

“That’s awesome!” J watched in awe, entirely submersed in his girlfriend’s special gift.”Can you bring back people?!” he would always ask, even if your answer didn’t change:

“I never tried because there is no person I want to bring back.”

************

But after The Joker was assassinated, you finally had somebody your heart desired to bring back. You were so miserable and depressed on your 31st birthday: the first one he wasn’t there for in the three years you’ve been together.

You only bought a cupcake with a small candle you blew out while crying, alone and desperate:

“I wish for J to come back,” you whispered to yourself, not knowing if it will work or not.

You opened your eyes in the morning and gasped: he was in bed on his side, asleep. Not completely there - mostly like a projection of his body. You could see through him and when you tried to touch his face your fingers touched nothing but air. The Joker didn’t seem aware of your presence, didn’t opened his eyes at all. His unearthly, temporary existence kept you glued in bed the whole day; you called his name repeatedly but he didn’t hear you. Maybe there was nothing there and you were hallucinating… Who knew?…

Yet…you could feel him beside you, he even smelled like his cologne. You started crying the next morning when J suddenly vanished, leaving nothing behind but a heartbroken Y/N that couldn’t understand why he wasn’t there for longer. You were able to summon him back for exactly 24 hours.

Afterwards you wished for him to come back on a daily basis without success. Why wasn’t it working?… Did you lose your ability?… Maybe it worked different on humans?…Did it take a lot of energy to bring back a person? Did you ran out and had to recharge?…Nobody to answer the questions since it was a mystery to even the owner of such a tremendous and scary power.

On your next birthday, you wished for him to be alive and this time it worked, exactly a year after his first arrival. Not a day sooner.

You woke up next morning and stopped breathing for a few seconds: The Joker was there again, resting, peacefully holding on to your waist. You caressed his green hair and he opened his eyes, tired.

J frowned when you started bawling, afraid to move.

“Why am I here?”

You didn’t answer but mustered the courage to yank him in your arms and hugged him really, really tight, not believing you could actually touch him.

“Did you bring me back?”

All you could do was kiss his cheek and hold him again, shaking, not being able to control your sobbing.

“Did you miss me?” he sadly smiled and that made you so upset.

“Yes…y-yes…I miss you every second, ” you sniffled and clung to him, frightened he will disappear without any warning.

The Joker felt exhausted; almost like after a very long journey that made him weak and incapable to respond to the real world anymore; he was dead, after all. His only connection to reality was the woman that loved him and her strong desire to have him close.

“I’m so worn out, Y/N…” he yawned, struggling to stay awake.

“Can you talk to me, please?” you begged and he nodded a yes, but his eyes closed and you couldn’t wake him up afterwards.

You guarded his restless dreams and tried not to blink too often, this way you could see him as much as possible. Thank God there wasn’t a soul around to hear your screams when he faded into nothingness after the 24 hours ended. It hurt so badly seeing him go away, unaware you were still there, wanting to hear his voice more than anything.

As the years went by, The Joker became more and more alert every time he was brought back. You would drive him around, showing him the city and places he liked. J never ate or drank and didn’t seem to age; he stayed 38 while you grew older.

Once, you asked him where he goes when he’s not with you. His eyes got so dark and there was so much pain in them it made your heart sink.

“I got exactly what I deserve, don’t worry,” he mumbled and forced himself to smile but you knew something was wrong. “Let’s just say I’m the happiest when I can be with my girl.”

You didn’t fight anymore; there wasn’t time for too much since he was alive only one day each year. You enjoyed his company and The Joker seemed to fully savor yours too.

When you turned 37 and he opened his eyes the next day, you were finally glowing for once; you didn’t look sad and he was surprised.

“Hi baby, ” you pecked his lips in a hurry, then jumped out of bed and helped him up. “Come on, I want you to meet somebody,” you dragged him in the bedroom next to yours, excited to show him the little miracle he had no idea about.

The 3 months old Emma was sleeping in the crib, unaware of her father’s presence.

“This is your daughter,” you got teary and carefully took her in your arms, then placed her in his. The Joker stood there, astonished, staring at his child. “I find out I was pregnant after your last year’s visit,” you explained, nervously biting on your lips. “Can you believe this happened?!”

J was able to utter just a few words:

“She’s so cute…”

He spent the whole day he was allowed to live with his baby and the new mother. And didn’t share the fact that he wished more than ever to stay with the two of them.

But you knew; it showed all over his face. How you regretted and cursed your strange powers that couldn’t keep him there more than a few hours…

**************

You had so many pictures around with J and always talked about him, this way Emma was familiar with her dad. Your daughter only saw him once a year, but she recognized J when he showed up at the penthouse. Shy at first, the little girl always warmed up to him after a few minutes, disappointed when her parent would vanish without a trace the next day. You tried to explain what’s going on, but she was too young to comprehend such complicated matters.

**************

When you turned 47 and The Joker opened his eyes after your birthday, the first thing he noticed was your bald head. You looked ill: dark circles under your eyes, skinny and pale.

“What’s wrong, Pumpkin?” he got on his elbow, worried and dizzy after waking up in the world of the living again. You just quietly pulled him towards you, wanting to talk to him before his 10 year old daughter would barge in to see her dad.

“I’m very sick…” and you paused, finding it hard to even open your mouth. “ I have brain cancer,” you gave him the news and he felt a huge weight on his chest. “It was discovered 10 months ago and…and…” and your voice got shaky,” I am not going to be here next year for my birthday to bring you back.”

The Joker never saw you cry like you did that day and for the first time ever he felt such a terrible ache washing over him; it made him wonder if he was still on the other side.

“Jesus, Princess,” he kissed you and you cuddled in his embrace, numb to anything else but his touch. “What about Emma?”

“I made arrangements,” you informed him after calming down a bit, “but I’m so concerned about her future. I think she inherited my ability,” you chuckled through tears, anxious at the revelation.

“Really?!” J whispered, not sure if he liked that or not, aware of what a burden it can be.

“U-hum, I witnessed her bring a butterfly back to life. Beautiful …and terrifying…” you almost choked and he understood the meaning of your statement.

“What are we going to do?” the question followed and there was no good answer to alleviate the insecurity.

“There is nothing we can do since we will both be gone…” and your sorrow was interrupted by Emma opening the door, thrilled to see The Joker is in her mom’s bedroom:

“Daddy ! You’re here!”

**************

“Hurry up, Y/N!” J keeps on encouraging you to move faster through the white mist.”Faster!” he leads you towards the place he knows about, hoping you will make it in time.

You have no clue what’s going on; you are so groggy and confused after finding yourself in this weird place with The Joker by your side, apparently taking you somewhere. Did you die in your sleep? Can’t even remember, everything is scrambled in your head.

“Where are we going?” you rub your eyes with your free hand, attempting to snap out of the trance.

“Sssttt, be quiet or they’ll hear you,” he signals and you distinguish faint cries, then howling and screams in the fog surrounding the bizarre realm. “There it is, come on!!!” J almost runs and you stumble behind him, blindly following his command.

You find yourself in front of two enormous gates, barely opened for one person to sneak in.

“Go!” J gives you a nudge towards the gap, letting go of your hand.

“Where are we going?” you yawn, puzzled and drained, squeezing on the other side of the portal, stopping to wait for him.

But he backs out when the enormous Dark Shadow that appeared out of nowhere slams the entrance shut, hissing at The Joker:

“Be gone! You know you can’t pass through The Gates of Afterlife!”

“Hey, let him in!” you immediately rush to open the gates, awoken by anxiety; they don’t even budge. The Guardian towers over his kingdom, gently pushing you away.

“You belong in here, he doesn’t. Move !”

You surely don’t understand what’s going on but you know one thing:

“Then let me out, I want to go back there!”

“Once you are inside, you can never go out. And the lost souls doomed to never find peace can’t come in.”

“I want to go to him, you can’t keep us apart ! Do you know how long we’ve been separated?! It’s not fair, let me out !” you plead, startled at the concept of being isolated from one another for eternity.

“You can never go out and he can never come in !” the menacing sentence echoes all around you before the creature fades away, done with his task of protecting the passage until the next arrivals.

“I don’t want to be in here!!!!!!!!!” you scream as loud as you can, the sounds bouncing in the stillness without anybody around to hear them. You walk along the gates, peaking outside through the heavy, tall bars making up the fence that continues to border the land through infinity. There is no end to it, no way to escape. You feel like a caged beast, trapped without any means to break free.

You see The Joker out there in that milky, dense mist and stop, squeezing the cold bars with your fingers.

“J !!! J!!!!” you shout and he cautiously approaches, taking the hand you extended through the bars. “What’s happening?” you wince when he kisses your knuckles, aware it’s forbidden and he will probably pay for it.

“You don’t deserve to be out here with the rest of us, Princess. You belong inside,” J keeps your fingers on his face, enjoying the connection.

“I don’t want to be inside without you, why did you trick me?!” you scold him, starting to cry.

“I’m The Trickster, remember? That’s what I do,” he tries to joke and can’t even smile at his own remark. “I have to go, but I will stay close, alright?”

“No, no! Where are you going?!” you try to hold on to him and he walks backwards, growling:

“I’m sorry I was mean to you so many times when we were alive…”

You push yourself against the fence, wanting to grab him but he is too far already.

“I forgive you!! Do you hear me?? I forgive you, come back!!!!!!! Please come back!!” you implore, frozen when he is swallowed by the fog outside. “Don’t leave…” you rest your head against the bars, sobbing. “Don’t leave…I forgive you…Stay with me…”

****************

“Why doesn’t he move?” The Guardian asks, intrigued. You keep on glaring outside, The Joker’s shape petrified in the same position for a long time. You can’t tell for how many days, weeks or months since there is no way to tell; time has no meaning here.

“It hurts more if you don’t move,” the Dark Shadow continues and you satisfy its curiosity:

“He wants to see me, that’s why he’s not moving. He wants to look at me…” you wipe your eyes, not letting The Joker out of your sight either.

“Why don’t you go and enjoy you afterlife? You’ve been here for a while.”

“I just want to look at him, I don’t care about anything else,” you sigh, discretely waving at J and he waves back.

“I’ll never understand humans,” The Guardian huffs. “There is nothing outside but demons, regrets and torment. If you don’t move, you’re easy pray for them to torture.”

“He’s used to that,” you turn your attention towards the creature. “He was a tortured soul way before he died, pain won’t bother him now. The demons in his mind accustomed him to agony when he was alive; he simply doesn’t care anymore.”

“Mmmm…” is the only reaction you get and The Guardian decides to leave you alone since it can’t convince you to abandon your useless mission.

The sudden, intense light illuminating the darkness and the mist beyond the gates makes you squint your eyes, uncomfortable.

“What is this?” you shield your face from the burning glow and the outworldy companion snarls, annoyed.

“That’s a very strong one, stronger than yours!”

“What?” you yell over the ominous ruckus that’s growing with each second, thunder and lightning increasing intensity until you can barely see and hear.

“It’s your daughter!” The Dark Shadow’s threatening demeanor scares you for once. “She wished for you and him to be alive again, she’s finally strong enough to do it ! And she’s already more powerful than you were! This can’t happen, I won’t let you leave!”

You brace for the worst, clearly no match for the Guardian when it all goes silent, just a strong wind swiping the hallowed ground. You and J are gone and The Underworld’s custodian shrieks, wanting vengeance for this transgression:

“I hate humans!”

******************

You stretch a bit and open your eyes, your head resting on The Joker’s shoulder. He is still dreaming and you kiss his skin, slowly moving your eyes around, recognizing your bed inside the master bedroom at the penthouse. Your gaze stops upon the recliner where a teenager Emma sleeps, barely turned 16 last night. You see a small birthday cake on the coffee table next to her, one candle adorning the sweet treat.

Your daughter wished for her parents to come back on her birthday again and it finally happened; so many failed attempts over the years and she almost lost faith.

J groans in his sleep and you are quick to caress his arm, whispering under your breath:

“Don’t ever leave me again.”


End file.
